NATO's top official says he expects continued cooperation with Russia on Afghanistan, counter-piracy and other operations after the election that returned Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency, as AP reported. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday he hoped the alliance and Moscow also would be able to move forward on missile defense because "both Russia and NATO would benefit from such cooperation." NATO says that its planned missile defense program is aimed at potential threats from Iran. But Russia has strongly objected, fearing the shield will eventually grow powerful enough to undermine Russia's own nuclear deterrent. Fogh Rasmussen said he expected that Putin will attend the NATO summit in Chicago in May "if we can reach an agreement on missile defense."
